Spay/False Pregnancy...help!!

[A&J]

Hi there, I am really hoping someone can help us out. We adopted a dog Thursday night (beagle/doxie mix). 2 days prior to our adopting her, the rescue who was fostering her had had spayed. We got her home Thursday night and she was as loving as can be, seemed very happy to be here and all was well. Friday morning she started squatting every 2 seconds, but nothing was coming out. I also noticed that her nipples were very swollen and large. I took her that morning back to the vet the rescue uses and it was determined that she had a UTI. I asked about the nipples and they said it was a hormonal reaction to the spay. They gave us Baytril for her UTI and we came back home. Now since Friday, she is hoarding all of my daughter's stuffed animals and trying to "nurse" them. She has them all piled in our lazy boy chair and she lays there all day with them unless she is going out to potty or eating. She has milk dripping from her nipples. The vet said that she was not pregnant at the time of her spay, so I am a little lost here. What should we do and how long can we expect this behavior? Should we allow her to continue pretending these stuffed animals are puppies or are we prolonging things in doing so? Oh and I might add that on Saturday I tried putting the stuffed animals out of sight, and she decided to adopt a couple of Matchbox cars and a Sponge Bob ball of my son's! Please help! Any advice is appreciated.

[davet]

this is a little unusual but i would not stop her from doing her nesting bit..she can probably be controlled with a hormone injection but i think i would swet it out for a while. she can be stopped with hormone injections but that can cause furture problems...as i said, this is unusual but i suspect it will cease after a while (hoe long a while is a guess) She was probably going into false pregnancy just before spaying and even though the ovaries were removed the hormones will still be there....give her time but keep check on the UTI..would you repost when she is over,i'm curius

[Guest]

We thought it was unusual too, but the vet swears that she was not pregnant when they spayed her. He did not mention doing a hormone injection or anything of that nature. It has been going on since Friday and we thought it would get better but she is getting more and possessive of the stuffed animals and she is very nasty toward our cats, which is upsetting because one of the main reasons we adopted her was because of how well she interacted with the cats in her foster home (we witnessed this with our own eyes, it's not just something that we were told). She literally just sits on this pile of stuffed animals constantly unless I am taking her to go to the bathroom or if she gets down to eat or drink. So basically she has been sitting there for like 72+ hours. The situation is very frustrating and stressful, to say the least. My daughter is NOT happy about it and any time she tries to take one of her stuffed animals back, the dog has a fit.

[Traci]

The situation is very frustrating and stressful, to say the least. My daughter is NOT happy about it and any time she tries to take one of her stuffed animals back, the dog has a fit.

Stressful....to her or to you? I agree with Davet...give this time, it's going to be nearly impossible to change her behavior at this point in time. If she is comfortable and finds content with the toys, there's no harm to pick out one or two or new ones, and allow her to deal with this on her own. It could also be a security issue/behavior, since she is adjusting to a new home and environment. Try to be patient with her, and divert her interests into other things (activity, walks, playtime, etc)...when she feels more secure in her environment (and recovers from the spay), she will probably wean herself off the need for the stuffed toys, etc.

[A&J]

Traci, it's more stressful for her than it is for us. It really isn't affecting us other than we don't know how to help her too well, and the fact that occasionally my 2-year-old gets upset about her stuffed animals being taken. She is still very sweet and loving and behaves very well. She's housebroken and does well on the leash, loves her crate and the blankets and bed we've given her, eats and drinks well and seems to be recovering very nicely from the UTI (she has been on the Baytril 2x daily for 5 days) The only reason my husband and I really even asked about it is because we wanted to make sure that we were doing the right thing by allowing her to continue behaving as if she were caring for puppies. We did not want to prolong things for her. Thanks again. I appreciate the advice!

[A&J]

Well, she is up to 17 items that she has claimed as a "baby" and the number keeps growing each day. Where do we draw the line? I understand that this is normal and something that we should let her do, but she can't just come in here and take over everything and growl and bark at everyone. I am NOT complaining, I am looking for solutions. We love her and we are not getting rid of her or sorry that we got her. I just need to find some solution to this issue because it's really starting to be a problem. Thanks.

[jason]

sounds like from the advice so far that you cannot effectively draw the line with this one. never dealt with this, but will try to offer some support here.

might want to keep the toys area closed off for a while to your dog and let her keep the ones she has for a while, no point in stressing her out by removing the toys.

i also notice that you say its not affecting you one day and less than 24 hours you mention that it has become a problem...it's understandable that this can be frustrating especially when your child is getting upset with the situation.

keep using diversions as Traci mentions and simply stick to it...may take a little time, i gather from this that you might need to exercise some more patience with this as it may take longer than a couple days.

good luck and keep us posted.

[A&J]

no point in stressing her out by removing the toys.

We have not removed any toys and have stopped our daughter from removing any, even when she is very upset.

i also notice that you say its not affecting you one day and less than 24 hours you mention that it has become a problem

Actually, my exact words were that it isn't affecting us other than we don't know how to help her too well, and the fact that occasionally my 2-year-old gets upset about her stuffed animals being taken. This still holds true. She is getting increasingly more aggitated and barking at everyone in the house, which is NOT the way she behaved when we visited her in the foster home prior to us adopting her. She was VERY loving, and behaved wonderfully with the kids and with the other cats and dogs in the foster home. Adopting a dog was not a decision we made lightly and we took care to find an animal that would fit well into our household and our family dynamic, as well as mesh with our existing pets. I'm sorry if it's hard to understand why we might be a little upset that the situation is turning this way.

i gather from this that you might need to exercise some more patience

I have an unlimited amount of patience and never implied or said that I was at the end of my rope with her or that I had run out of patience. On the contrary, I asked for solutions in this situation. Everyone I have talked to, including those who have posted here, have said that this is an unusal situation. The vet is even surprised by it. Given that this is our first dog, I think it would make sense that we are feeling out of our league and unsure on how to handle things. We have had her for 7 days and she has spent 6 of those days gathering and laying on stuffed animals, Matchbox cars and socks that she finds, barking and being ornery, and this behavior increases with each day. We have had her to the vet 2 times in the past 7 days so I know that she is not dealing with any other medical issues other than the UTI, which seems to be completely cleared.

I don't understand why it's not okay to say that her behavior is not what we had expected nor hoped for and we would like to rectify the situation. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to interact with her every day, and her "protectiveness" of her fake babies is starting to put my children in danger as she snaps at my daughter if she comes within a couple of feet of her. We did not go out on a whim and adopt an animal, we did all of the things that we thought we needed to do to ensure a smooth situation for all involved, and I think it's perfectly understandable for us to be upset and want to find a solution for the situation.

[Nancy (Spuddie' s Mum)]

Wow, that is an incredible problem. I can just image what must be going through that poor pups head. First the trauma of surgery, then being rehomed, plus hormones.....it almost sounds like post partum depression in humans to the fullest degree. I have a Chihuahua that's a toy horder, but he just wants them all for himself, he's not nursing them. LOL

Here is a link to a BB called Dog Chat, there is a lady named Karen on the board who is a professional dog trainer and behavior expert. She has given me a lot of advice on my dogs over time and perhaps can assist you in your delemma.

http://members.boardhost.com/dogchat/

Good luck and give your pup a kiss for me, I know you must all be going though a rough time dealing with something so difficult to understand. Don't you wish they could just talk and tell you the problem so you could fix it and help them to feel better?

[Traci]

A&J, Davet first mentioned to you that perhaps a hormone injection would be appropriate. We would all like to feel a behavioral problem can be solved with investigation, patience and comittment to the task before ever suggesting medications as intervention.

It is clear from your posts that you are clearly frustrated, but please, there is no need to portray that frustration to the people who are trying to help.

Based only on your posts, you have some options. Simply put:

1) discuss with your vet about the hormone injection

2) as Jason mentioned, close off the area so she has no access to more toys

3) seek a second opinion from another vet

4) consult with a behaviorist

5) remain patient, even after the spay, she could still have hormonal tendencies for up to a month post-op.